Islam vis-a-vis interest rate

In al-Qur'an, there appear two statements forbidding riba . Some have drawn from the riba-related verses that exorbitant rates of interest are forbidden, whereas modern interest is acceptable. The larger proportion of Islamic legal scholars, however, maintains that interest in all its forms is forbidden. The debate about modern interest's permissibility dates back to the early twentieth century. An analysis of interest rates at the time of al-Qur'an's revelation is in order. Roman and Greek interest rates were in some times and places in the single digits and at maximum at less than 17%. At one time, Egyptian agricultural interest rates were as high as 50%. Maritime loans stood at 16.66%. In Europe, there were a variety of interest rates. Nuremberg's rates were extremely high. It has been suggested by a scholar that the interest rate in Muslim countries stood at 30%. This suggestion, however, seems inaccurate. In fact there were objections against even 4% rates, seen by Mus